Eddie Barnes - Lucky Jim
Scotland on Sunday is running an interview with Jim Murphy tomorrow and while he has some harsh words for people in his party who have conceded defeat, the Scottish Secretary was pretty upbeat.
Not surprising when you come to think about it. Murphy, who is running the Scottish Labour campaign, has the best job in the Labour cabinet. The main reason is that he won't be involved in the campaign in London. That will be hell. Defeat is in the air, nobody and everybody will be in charge, and they're going to have to watch as the Conservatives out-spend them by miles. You can just imagine the whole thing collapsing as thoughts turn to casting blame on one another, and the succession to follow.
Murphy on the other hand has it relatively easy. In Scotland, Labour can play at being in opposition, attacking the SNP government for everything (including, as we have seen this week, the weather). Meanwhile the spectre of an Conservative government being elected at Westminster may well spook their substantial core vote back into the polling booths. Labour chiefs are now claiming that this core vote is more motivated than it has been for at least the last five years (there's no way of checking this, I hasten to add).
On top of this, I've picked up distinctly worried tones from senior Scottish Tories in the last few days who fear that the Hoon-Hewitt coup might actually hand Gordon Brown the 'sympathy vote' in Scotland. This seemed to me initially to be the natural paranoia of the front runner, but I wonder. Meanwhile, one thing we don't know yet is whether the SNP is really going to plough that much cash and effort into the coming campaign, particularly when it's got Holyrood to win back next year. Holyrood has to be their priority, if priorities have to be made.
Lucky Jim indeed.
PS: However, are we forgetting the LibDems in all of this? Iain Dale has some drawn some interesting conclusions today on how the Libs could end up with 16 seats in Scotland, with four gains from Labour. His basic point is that we ignore local trends at our peril. Quite. Dale also thinks the SNP won't get anywhere near Alex Salmond's hoped-for 20 seats.
Not surprising when you come to think about it. Murphy, who is running the Scottish Labour campaign, has the best job in the Labour cabinet. The main reason is that he won't be involved in the campaign in London. That will be hell. Defeat is in the air, nobody and everybody will be in charge, and they're going to have to watch as the Conservatives out-spend them by miles. You can just imagine the whole thing collapsing as thoughts turn to casting blame on one another, and the succession to follow.
Murphy on the other hand has it relatively easy. In Scotland, Labour can play at being in opposition, attacking the SNP government for everything (including, as we have seen this week, the weather). Meanwhile the spectre of an Conservative government being elected at Westminster may well spook their substantial core vote back into the polling booths. Labour chiefs are now claiming that this core vote is more motivated than it has been for at least the last five years (there's no way of checking this, I hasten to add).
On top of this, I've picked up distinctly worried tones from senior Scottish Tories in the last few days who fear that the Hoon-Hewitt coup might actually hand Gordon Brown the 'sympathy vote' in Scotland. This seemed to me initially to be the natural paranoia of the front runner, but I wonder. Meanwhile, one thing we don't know yet is whether the SNP is really going to plough that much cash and effort into the coming campaign, particularly when it's got Holyrood to win back next year. Holyrood has to be their priority, if priorities have to be made.
Lucky Jim indeed.
PS: However, are we forgetting the LibDems in all of this? Iain Dale has some drawn some interesting conclusions today on how the Libs could end up with 16 seats in Scotland, with four gains from Labour. His basic point is that we ignore local trends at our peril. Quite. Dale also thinks the SNP won't get anywhere near Alex Salmond's hoped-for 20 seats.
Labels: Eddie Barnes, general election, Jim Murphy
posted by Administrator at
13:27
2 Comments:
Has any journalist quizzed the purpose of Jim Murphy, he and his department have presided over massive increases in spending over the last two years despite their being hardly anything for him to do other than issue anti-SNP news briefings and look after his own constituency.
Where are the 4th estate in Scotland?
Looking forward to some lame questioning in tomorrow's interview......yawn
Jim Murphy's purpose is to use his Office to further the interests of the Labour Party in Scotland of course, and as you point out to be furnished with the budget to do it.
A scandal in any other land.
If I was the SNP then I really wouldn't bother too much with the GE, other than to hold on the the seats they've got, and to attack any marginals with gusto.
What will be interesting is Murphy's seat. I know quite a few people from that neck of the woods who are going to be voting Tory this time, although normally they would need to have a gun to their head to do anything as socially unacceptable as that - and they are telling people!
If I was the Gray man I would be canvassing for Murphy 24/7.
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